Groove forming additions for the inner walls of hot tops

ABSTRACT

Elements having groove forming configurations therein for application to the inner metal receiving surfaces of hot tops as applied to ingot molds and the like in the casting of ingots to provide configurations on the neck of the cast ingot facilitating its engagement with the mold stripping apparatus.

United States Patent 2,341,589 2/1944 Anthony 249/202 2,485,065 10/ 1949 Papazian 249/201 X 3,165,797 l/1965 LaBate 249/198X FOREIGN PATENTS1,360,173 3/1964 France 249/197 1,030,935 5/1966 Great Britain 249/197Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Attorney-Webster B. HarpmanABSTRACT: Elements having groove forming configurations therein forapplication to the inner metal receiving surfaces of hot tops as appliedto ingot molds and the like in the casting of ingots to provideconfigurations on the neck of the cast ingot facilitating its engagementwith the mold stripping apparatus.

[72] Inventor Michael D. LaBate 115 Hazen Ave., Ellwood City, Pa. 16117[21] Appl. No. 733,716 [22] Filed May 31, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 26,1971 [54] GROOVE FORMING ADDITIONS FOR THE INNER WALLS OF HOT TOPS 3Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. CI 249/197 [51] Int. Cl B22d 7/10 [50] Field of Search249/197- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,825 4/1884DuPuy 25/119 PATENTEU m2 6 m1 v. D E ma m W w L A D M GROOVE FORMINGADDITIONS FOR THE INNER WALLS F HOT TOPS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates to ingot molds as used incasting ingots of metal and more particularly to hot tops as used onsuch ingot molds to prevent piping and other flaws in the ingot beingcast an providing devices for altering the shape of said hot tops so asto form desirable configurations in the necks of said ingots.

2. Description of the Prior Art I-Iot tops heretofore known in the arthave been either of the refractory consumable or lined types and havegenerally provided relatively smooth inner walls against which the neckof the ingot is formed when the hot metal is poured therethrough andallowed to fill up above the ingot as is customary. A proposal has beenmade to form slots in the walls of a hot top so that the metal in theneck of the ingot will flow outwardly in said slots and form meanspinning the hot top to the neck of the ingot to facilitate its removalfrom the ingot mold along with the ingot.

The present invention is usable with all types of hot tops as the grooveforming elements are simply applied to the inner walls of the hot topsbefore the metal is poured therein and with the result that when themetal solidifies projecting ears or lugs are formed which greatlyexpedite and facilitate the removal of the ingot from the mold.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The groove forming additions for hot tops asused on ingot molds disclosed herein comprise a simple inexpensive andeasily installed means for forming desirable configurations on the neckend of a poured metal ingot when it has solidified.

In pouring ingots, hot tops are used to control piping and cavities andpockets in the ingot which result from the shrinkage of the metal as thesame solidifies. I-Iot tops provide a pool of molten metal on the upperend of the ingot which fills in the piping and cavities which wouldotherwise render the ingot unfit for reduction and use as by a rollingmill operation.

The freeing of big end up ingots from the ingot molds in which they arecast is greatly facilitated by forming means on the neck of the ingot sothat the stripper apparatus can readily grasp the ingot. Theconventional hot top provides a smooth surface on the neck of the ingotwhich does not lend itself to such contact with the stripping apparatus.By adding the groove forming additions to the inner walls of the hottop, a desirable configuration results which facilitates the rapid andefi'icient stripping of the ingot molds. The groove forming additionsmay be and preferably are formed of consumable material and oppose pairsmay be applied to any hot top by affixing the same thereto with asuitable adhesive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the upperportion of a big end up ingot mold with an ingot poured therein and theneck of the ingot extending thereabove and showing desirableconfigurations formed thereon.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through the upper portion of an ingot moldand a hot top having an opposed pair of groove forming additionstherein.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the upper portion of an ingot showing desirableconfigurations formed in the neck thereof by the invention disclosedherein.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one of the groove forming elements and FIG. 5is an end view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a vertical section through a hot top having linersincorporating the groove forming elements integrally therewith.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In its simplest form the grooveforming elements for application to the inner walls of hot tops on ingotmolds comprise generally rectangular members such as seen in FIGS. 4 and5 of the drawings and wherein a rectangular base 10 has a curved uppersurface 11 and an oppositely disposed curved lower surface 12 withhorizontally disposed relatively wide groove 13 spacing the same.

The generally rectangular shape is a matter of convenience and mayobviously be of any suitable configuration as long as the deep widegroove I3 is present in the transverse center section of the element. Apair of these elements which are preferably formed of a consumable hottop mixture as hereinafter described are applied as by a suitableadhesive to the opposed inner walls of a hot top such as seen in FIG. 2of the drawings in vertical section. The hot top consisting of a walledstructure formed of wall sections 14 having liners 15 to which thegroove forming elements 10 are directly applied.

In FIG. 2 of the drawings, the hot top is shown positioned in the upperend 16 of a big end up ingot mold 17.

Those skilled in the art will observe that when molten metal is pouredinto the ingot mold 17 by way of the vertical passageway defined by thehot top walled structure including the members 13, 14 and 15, the metalwill fill up the ingot mold l7 and then rise upwardly into the hot topstructure to form what is eventually known as the neck of the ingot.When the metal reaches a point above the groove forming elements 10,pouring of the ingot ceases and as the molten metal in the ingot mold l7chills, the piping cracks and other irregularities that form as a resultof the shrinkage of the metal are filled by the pool of molten metal inthe hot top to produce a more perfect ingot.

The exterior surfaces of the metal in the hot top have engaged andfilled the grooves 13 in the groove forming elements 10 and when themetal in the ingot is completely solidified the ingot is stripped fromthe mold through the use of suitable equipment, it being understood thatwhen a combustible hot top is used the same has disintegrated by thistime or when a nonconsumable hot top is used the same is broken away. Ineither event, the use of the groove forming elements 10 have providedoppositely disposed outwardly projecting lugs or ears on the neck of theingot as may be seen by referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings.

By referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that theingot 18 has been poured in the ingot mold l7 and that the neck portion19 of the ingot is exposed as the hot top which was originally presenthas either been removed or been consumed, as hereinbefore explained. Theopposite sides of the neck 19 are thus provided with projecting lugs 20,one of which is seen in FIG. 1 of the drawings in the perspective viewand two of which are seen in the plan view of FIG. 3 of the drawings.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that because of thedesign and configuration of the groove forming elements 10 the lugs 20are centered in shallow cavities 21 formed in the opposite sides of theneck 19 of the ingot l8 and that this particularly facilitates theengagement and temporary attachment of the mold stripping apparatuswhich must of necessity hold the mold l7 and the ingot l8 and exertopposite motion to free the ingot from the mold.

Those skilled in the art will thus observe that by applying therelatively small inexpensive and simply installed groove formingelements 10 to the inner walls of the hot top, the result in ingot andneck portion particularly are provided with suitable configurationsgreatly facilitating the stripping of the ingot from the mold.

Those skilled in the art will observe that the invention may be modifiedby forming the groove forming elements as integral portion of hot topliners or hot top sections which are combustible.

By referring to FIG. 6 of the drawings, a vertical section through a hottop having wall sections 22 and liner sections 23 may be seen and itwill be observed that the liner sections have the groove formingelements formed integrally therewith so that vertically spaced upper andlower curving sections 24 and 25 define horizontally disposed relativelywide and deep grooves 26 therebetween.

The modification of FIG. 6 is installed in an ingot mold in the samemanner heretofore described and illustrated in connection with FIG. 2 ofthe drawings and those skilled in the art will observe that when metalsolidifies in the hot top, the same will flow into the grooves 26 andwhen the ingot and its neck portion are solidified the desirableoppositely disposed lugs on the neck portion of the ingot mold will berealized.

The groove forming elements are preferably formed of material whichincludes ingredients that will burn and ingredients that willdisintegrate to a fine powder said ingredients being held in a normalmix by a suitable binder. An example of a desirable material willcomprise a batch including 40 pounds of sawdust, 140 pounds of rawdolomite and 80 pounds of sodium silicate as a binder. This basicmixture may be altered by substituting an equal quantity by weight ofsmall sized wood chips, rice hulls or wheat kernels for the sawdust. Astill further variation forming a suitable mix comprises substitutingcintered granulated blast furnace slag or finely ground fired clay(grog) for the raw dolomite in equivalent weights. It has also beendetermined that the resin ureaformaldehyde in the amount of 50 pounds byweight can be used as a binder rather than the 80 pounds of sodiumsilicate.

The groove forming elements 10 or the inserts 23 hereinbefore describedare molded of the mixture which tends to dry and set and forms areasonably durable structure capable of its intended use. Severaldifferent adhesives may be used for applying the groove forming elements10 to the inner walls of the hot top and these include sodium silicateand the ureaformal dehyde resin in suitable solutions. Alternately theymay be mechanically attached as by metal fasteners.

While only two embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and having thus described myinvention. what I claim is:

I claim:

1. A hot top shaped to provide an upwardly extending sinkhead, the hottop comprising four upstanding cojoined walls, a liner on an innersurface of each of the walls, consumable groove forming elements onoppositely disposed inner surfaces of two of the liners, the grooveforming elements comprising a shaped body having two horizontallyextending substantially quadrant shaped in cross section and spacedapart portions extending outwardly of the body and an inwardly extendingchannel between the quadrant shaped portions of a depth substantiallysimilar to the height of the quadrant shaped portions, the shaped bodyextending inwardly from the inner surfaces of the liner, the shaped bodyforming an in wardly extending cavity within an outer surface of amolded article and the inwardly extending channel forming a horizontallyextending web across the cavity, the web having an outer portioncoplanar with the surface of the molded article.

2. The hot top as set forth in claim 1 wherein the groove formingelements are attached to the inner surface of the liner.

3. The hot top as set forth in claim 1 wherein the liner and grooveforming elements are formed integrally and are of consumable material.

1. A hot top shaped to provide an upwardly extending sinkhead, the hottop comprising four upstanding cojoined walls, a liner on an innersurface of each of the walls, consumable groove forming elements onoppositely disposed inner surfaces of two of the liners, the grooveforming elements comprising a shaped body having two horizontallyextending substantially quadrant shaped in cross section and spacedapart portions extending outwardly of the body and an inwardly extendingchannel between the quadrant shaped portions of a depth substantiallysimilar to the height of the quadrant shaped portions, the shaped bodyextending inwardly from the inner surfaces of the liner, the shaped bodyforming an inwardly extending cavity within an outer surface of a moldedarticle and the inwardly extending channel forming a horizontallyextending web across the cavity, the web having an outer portioncoplanar with the surface of the molded article.
 2. The hot top as setforth in claim 1 wherein the groove forming elements are attached to theinner surface of the liner.
 3. The hot top as set forth in claim 1wherEin the liner and groove forming elements are formed integrally andare of consumable material.